What is this hipster you speak of?
For whatever reason, the term "hipster" started getting thrown around in the discussion about the Albany backyard chicken issue, as if it somehow affects the relative merits of the viewpoints.
It's one of those terms that people use all the time now (so much that it's worn out) -- but, it seems, people can't agree on what it means (one popular definition). The term has been the subject of panels, long articles, books, cultural observation, a how-to, infographics, an usually long Wikipedia entry and too many websites. Also, American Apparel is apparently somehow involved.
But if people are going to throw around the term in debates over municipal laws, it seems we should have sort of agreed-upon definition.
So, let's have it. What is a hipster? Is there an Albany-specific hipster subtype? And are chickens somehow a hipster animal? (Has someone told the chickens? Are there other hipster animals? What about goats -- they would look good in those black-frame glasses.)
The best answer gets a round of ironic applause.
photo: Flickr user rob_rob2001
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Comments
I spend a fair amount of time in Brooklyn, which is apparently Hipster-ville. So, I can say categorically hipsters do not have chickens, unless the chickens don't have brakes, which means then you can pedal them forwards and backwards, or they have goofy little hats like Dean Martin used to wear. Thus they would be hipster chickens. Also, I will go out on a limb and say there are few or no hipsters in Albany.
... said wopettit on Apr 19, 2011 at 12:55 PM | link
I think my head's going to explode...I can't gather these thoughts fast enough...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....let's see...I'll boil it down to: Nonathletic people seeking attention by being unique (being unconventional, having a trust fund, voting Democrat across the board even if you have no clue what anyone stands for, going to art school)... Frequenting thought-to-be unheard of bars, drinking beer that people drank 50 years ago that you can find at Oliver's and thought people forgot about...realizing that every single other person in said establishment is dressed just like them and drinking the same drink. Hipsters! Although there are far more characteristics, I am short on time today.
Or just watch this:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/210886/portlandia-this-bar-is-over#x-4,vclip,1,0
... said Save Pine Hills on Apr 19, 2011 at 12:58 PM | link
Any sufficiently accurate description of "hipster" is necessarily already too sufficiently outdated to be considered accurate.
So there. ;)
... said MikeM on Apr 19, 2011 at 1:27 PM | link
For an in-depth visual study of hipsters check them out here
http://www.latfh.com
... said REDtheredhead on Apr 19, 2011 at 1:48 PM | link
When I think of said hipsters, two visuals pop into my head simultaneously and I just can't reconcile them:
1. White belt women's jeans wearing track bike riders (Romulan hair cut optional) and/or...
2. Dan Nester.
Is it because Dan once tried to squeeze into aforementioned jeans? Dunno. Help me, plz.
... said James at 44 on Apr 19, 2011 at 2:11 PM | link
Dandies, greasers, expatriates, there have always been groups of young people wearing tight pants and defining themselves as being counter to mainstream culture while buying wholeheartedly into some other mainstream culture. Nothing new.
... said mr slow loris on Apr 19, 2011 at 2:42 PM | link
I'd tell you about hipsters, but you've probably never heard of them. You wouldn't like them anyway. They're pretty obscure.
... said Matthew on Apr 19, 2011 at 2:47 PM | link
Hipster [hips*tur] n.
1. A person on the internet with whom you disagree; in particular the person should be young and liberal.
2. An ihabitant of Williamsburgh whose identity hinges on the increasing level of obscurity in their musical tastes and their battle with Hasidic Jews over whether or not bike lanes should be added to their streets.
3. Bombers patron who is insistent on an imminent relocation to New York City that never happens.
4. An individual who forsakes all clothing and technology developed in the last twenty years, as such wears clothes only from thrift stores and listens to vinyl; distant cousin of Pennsylvania Amish.
5. Daniel Nester
... said Kevin Marshall on Apr 19, 2011 at 2:56 PM | link
Your Honor, I rest my case!
... said James at 44 on Apr 19, 2011 at 3:09 PM | link
Albany hipsters have woodsier jeans, beards, and ironic sunglasses.
... said Lucy on Apr 19, 2011 at 3:14 PM | link
I listen to odd, and sometimes obscure, music.
I ride my bike, and fight for bike lanes.
I drink both PBR and go in search of interesting and novel beers.
I like "weird" food and I care about where it comes from.
I have Social-Democrat politics.
I wear bow ties.
Does that make me an aging hipster jackass?
*sigh*
I suppose it does.
... said ned on Apr 19, 2011 at 3:15 PM | link
I have dreams of freezing time at hipster headquarter "Palais Royale" in Albany, then shave all these intentionally poorly-groomed beards, burn all these fake rimmed glasses and replace all these plaid "shirts" with equally ironic popped polos.
... said -S on Apr 19, 2011 at 3:47 PM | link
I think it's funny that AOA is running a post asking for a definition of "hipster"--just take a gander at every single person in attendance at one of the AOA parties at The Point.
... said Books Books Books on Apr 19, 2011 at 4:00 PM | link
@ Books
Ha! So true. That makes this post ironic, the true calling card of a hipster.
@-S
Unfortunately, you're right about the Palais. When it was taken over by this new guy, it first felt like a vampire deathcore bar with the dark red lights and loud metal. But I went in awhile back and it's all hipsters. One tried to tell me it's a dive bar and I explained to them that it was only a dive when absolutely NO ONE went there except for 16 yr olds and restaurant workers getting out at 2am. Now, it's just a sh-t hole. If Ol' Rocky were to see who's in his bar now, he'd burn it down. Sorry hipster dude, you ruined a cool Albany bar.
... said Save Pine Hills on Apr 19, 2011 at 4:22 PM | link
Damn, I'm sorry I missed the vampire deathcore bar....can we bring that back?!
I loved the Palais when I was 16....
... said Recently relocated on Apr 19, 2011 at 4:29 PM | link
Pine Hills: I remember the Palais when it was old-man bar by day and punk rock paradise at night. Albany's wannabe hipsters aren't doing it right -- or even ironically.
... said Julia Thorne on Apr 19, 2011 at 4:30 PM | link
Ugh, PBR is sooo 2011, there's a new beer in town.
... said El Gucks on Apr 19, 2011 at 4:31 PM | link
I'm all for overthrowing Jose. Mutiny!
Take back the bar and turn it into a 25 and up rock bar.
Do it.
... said Em on Apr 19, 2011 at 4:42 PM | link
I was a hipster in college for 15 minutes. It was awesome.
... said Barold on Apr 19, 2011 at 4:50 PM | link
it's about about the mountain brew beer ice, stewarts contract beer from genesee, which is $3 a six pack.
... said andrew on Apr 19, 2011 at 5:05 PM | link
hipsters don't flip cars
... said patrick on Apr 19, 2011 at 5:09 PM | link
This so-called 'Hipster' population, IMO, just blends in now. It's like background noise, or fog. It's not distinguishable, not provoking, not outrageous, not unique, not inspiring. The word 'hip' is probably very sad to be used in association with a group that is becoming its antithesis. Poor, poor 'hip'.
... said DfromDowntown on Apr 19, 2011 at 5:20 PM | link
Making fun of Hipsters is the #1 past time of Hipsters everywhere.
... said TFerg on Apr 19, 2011 at 5:21 PM | link
This?
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72279542/hipster-monkey-finds-pablo-honey-again-8
Or mayyybeeeee...this?
http://www.etsy.com/listing/71556893/hipster-monkeys-had-enough-8-x-10-print
... said Nic on Apr 19, 2011 at 5:32 PM | link
Rocky wouldn't give a sh-t if there was cash to be made. That you care makes you dangerously close to being a hipster. The fact that you didn't even mention the bar bowling, pig's feet, Cambell's soup or the TWO JUKES makes me think that you only heard about the place.
Who cares? People lamented Frank's Living Room (remember THAT ONE buddy?) for a while but then the next set of idiots found their next dying establishment to drink in and lament the golden age of neverville.
Please. Stop. Who cares if you are a hipster, and yes I imagine an Albany hipster/ neo yuppie will have chickens in their back yard. As a country kid I find that f*cking disgusting, but hey! people eat raw fish (or think they do- they don't. it's all flash frozen at least once). Ned you bastard, you owe me a beer for having been pulled into this maze of intellectual mediocrity and for all the beer I gave you from across the bar when we were younger lads.
As the late horrible GG Allen would say..."I'm going to throw my own sh*t on you!" and then he would.
... said bluto on Apr 19, 2011 at 5:39 PM | link
Yay for AOA for asking this out loud. Thank you!
... said coliopsis on Apr 19, 2011 at 5:46 PM | link
Easy Bluto, it wasn't a bar review on Yelp, it was a comment on hipsters. I know what the place was and I don't need to be bragging about it. (Although I will say Patsy Cline's Crazy pretty much played on repeat. That I do miss.) By the way, blaming someone else for making your own comment and then quoting some obscure person's garbage mouth...so hipster.
After seeing all these comments and the rage it seems to be bringing out...You know how there's an unwritten social rule about not bringing up religion or politics? Well we can add hipsters to that now.
... said Save Pine Hills on Apr 19, 2011 at 6:11 PM | link
As an erstwhile resident of Hipster Central (Brooklyn) and one familiar with the central parties in the chicken fiasco, I feel that the 'hipster' label is apt in this situation.
Since it would be tacky to personally judge the participants, I will only say this:
The common factor between the contemporary Brooklyn hipster and the Albany Backyard Chicken Folks is this: both are European-descended residents of classically poor, non-white neighborhoods who have used their class privilege, race privilege and financial resources to create a vast divide between them and their neighbors.
... said Durutti on Apr 19, 2011 at 6:39 PM | link
That rage is normal. To know hipster is to hate hipster, is to be hipster.
... said El Gucks on Apr 19, 2011 at 6:49 PM | link
Hipster is a polite way of saying "asshole"
... said Eric on Apr 19, 2011 at 6:58 PM | link
Hipsters are usually pretentious dicks -- the kinds of people who only listen to underground local bands, only read either high literature or poetry and in general think they know everything about what's cool. And yet, by being such jerks about it, having such a superior "I know what's cool, and you probably wouldn't get it anyway" attitude, they make themselves distinctly UNcool.
... said M on Apr 19, 2011 at 7:47 PM | link
My copy of "The Hipster Handbook" (http://www.hipsterhandbook.com/) offers some good clues, including:
1. You graduated from a liberal arts school whose football team hasn't won a game since the Reagan administration.
2. You frequently use the term "post-modern" (or its commonly used variation "PoMo") as an adjective, noun, and verb.
3. You carry a shoulder-strap messenger bag and have at one time or another worn a pair of horn-rimmed or Elvis Costello-style glasses.
4. You have one Republican friend who you always describe as being your "one Republican friend.
... said jess on Apr 19, 2011 at 11:15 PM | link
I've always thought this article on the term was an interesting and perhaps different look at the word: http://www.theawl.com/2010/10/being-a-hipster-is-an-excellent-and-wonderful-thing. For the most part, I'm a bit 'meh' on a lot of what the article has to say, although I do like this bit:
"…there should be no shame ever surrounding the love of or identification with a place, a way of life, a band or a pair of glasses. There could be so much more happiness (and inventiveness, and liberty) if people were just free to just love what they love without having to worry about whether or not they are going to be crucified for being a hipster.â€
Which, I don't know that I really want to align myself with the sort of people being described in many of the above comments, but I get the word occasionally thrown at me because I got bangs and wear vintage and like things that are twee.
On the other hand, I do really like Hipster Ariel: http://fuckyeahhipsterariel.tumblr.com/
:)
... said kater on Apr 19, 2011 at 11:16 PM | link
Hipster= 90% of the people at the Iron & Wine show last saturday. I've never seen so many ill-advised beards, plaid shirts or children's dresses paired with ironic footwear in my life. It was weird.
However, the kid in the fedora reading Hunter S Thompson during the opening act of a concert I saw a couple of years ago? Not a hipster. Just trying to hard.
... said Casey on Apr 20, 2011 at 7:31 AM | link
From *Urban Dictionary*:
Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter. The greatest concentrations of hipsters can be found living in the Williamsburg, Wicker Park, and Mission District neighborhoods of major cosmopolitan centers such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco respectively. Although "hipsterism" is really a state of mind,it is also often intertwined with distinct fashion sensibilities. Hipsters reject the culturally-ignorant attitudes of mainstream consumers, and are often be seen wearing vintage and thrift store inspired fashions, tight-fitting jeans, old-school sneakers, and sometimes thick rimmed glasses. Both hipster men and women sport similar androgynous hair styles that include combinations of messy shag cuts and asymmetric side-swept bangs. Such styles are often associated with the work of creative stylists at urban salons, and are usually too "edgy" for the culturally-sheltered mainstream consumer. The "effortless cool" urban bohemian look of a hipster is exemplified in Urban Outfitters and American Apparel ads which cater towards the hipster demographic. Despite misconceptions based on their aesthetic tastes, hipsters tend to be well educated and often have liberal arts degrees, or degrees in maths and sciences, which also require certain creative analytical thinking abilities.
... said Scoot Tubwha on Apr 20, 2011 at 8:14 AM | link
@Eric I thought that douchebag was the polite way to say asshole.
... said ned on Apr 20, 2011 at 9:28 AM | link
I'm really sick of all this getting down on hipsters stuff. Ok, so you don't like their style, you think beards are unattractive and vintage/thrift is trying to hard. Truth is it's a lot of young guys who just don't want to shave and found out they can get away with not doing it if they call it fashion, and the thrift shopping is because we're young and broke. Same with the PBR. You think the majority of hipsters would actually drink that stuff if they could afford to drink something better?
What really bugs me is when people get down on them for the things they do right. They ride bikes and want bike lanes? Biking is great exercise and cuts down on carbon emissions, but mostly it's lots of fun. How's that bad?
They went to college? Maybe even got "worthless" degrees in art or literature? Well, at least they won't be causing the economy to collapse like the finance majors any time soon. And as it turns out, almost everyone's degrees are pretty worthless in this economy.
They have progressive political views? Everyone's entitled to their own politics. Is it the fact that they are sometimes passionate but not as informed as you think they should be? Well, that club is huge. It's hard to keep up on everything, but if you talk to older "hipsters", you'll tend to find they get better at it as they grow up. Certainly they're at least head and shoulders above the fox news crowd, anyway.
They ruined that great dive bar that was a local institution? I'm sure the owner's real upset that their old man and 16 year old crowd has turned into a busy hotspot for a group of young people who *mostly* don't have a reputation for getting rowdy. Just because you don't want to hang out there anymore does not make it ruined.
Sure, there's some pretentiousness. There's some trying too hard, over the top looks, and self consciousness. But it is NOT ALL about keeping up with a fashion. And are you sure you're not just projecting your own guilt onto a group of people and calling it pretension? Do you wish you'd lived a more bohemian lifestyle instead of playing it safe and getting the 9 to 5 and joining the rat race? Do you secretly wish you took joy in art and music and the company of like minded people instead of coming home and turning on the TV? Do you know in your heart of hearts that bikes are better in every way than SUVs, organic and local are probably better for everyone, education is a good thing, and if everyone cared about things more the world would probably be a better place? Or do you really just HATE beards and plaid shirts and bangs so that means you can write off anyone who would look like that with a dismissive expletive? Fine.
Responding to the chicken thing that started all this, Bluto, I lived down the road from a chicken farm growing up, and I get where you're coming from if that's in your mind with the "disgusting" comment, but we're not talking about hundreds of chickens locked up in a big barn producing mountains of smelly poop. We're talking about a half dozen or less chickens roaming around a backyard and being well tended. Big difference.
... said Phoebe on Apr 20, 2011 at 9:36 AM | link
Actually, the Urban Dictionary definition from @Scoot Tubwha is pretty accurate.
I would also add that they claim to be politically progressive, environmentally caring, and concerned for their community, but these attitudes end when they go beyond their own personal sphere of comfort and community, and out into the real world. When was the last time you saw a hipster working in a soup kitchen, politcally canvasing door-to-door, or participating in an Earth Day garbage pick up?
... said Jessica R on Apr 20, 2011 at 9:44 AM | link
I must defend where I live in order for my arguments for anything to be taken seriously?
I'm "attempting to create a divide between me my classically poor neighbors?" Seriously? Is that exactly why some folks move out to the suburbs - to pretend away city problems?!
I moved to my neighborhood because it was affordable, has great businesses nearby, I like the architecture, taking transit saves me a boatload of cash, and I can't stand spending my hard earned money and time sitting in traffic. That's an economic and quality of life approach. Here I thought it was well thought out and your making the assumption it's so I can "be better than my neighbors..." But then again, they chose to live in my neighborhood for the same reasons... weird.
I'm dumbfounded how this "better than everyone" conclusion could be arrived on, and why some folks insist on putting down people for choosing to do something good for their community, rather than sitting on the sidelines, commenting on how stupid everyone is.
Tell us about you, @Durutti, because clearly your king of the mountain, Where do you get those mystical powers of judgment and piousness? Will that spring ever run dry?
... said daleyplanit on Apr 20, 2011 at 10:23 AM | link
Look, everyone's getting very heated around here and being very judgemental of others' choices and opinions. @Durutti probably shouldn't condemn all hipsters as those creating a divide with their poorer already established in the neighborhood neighbors. @Daleyplanit probably shouldn't be judging folks who move to the suburbs as people wanting to forget the problems of the city. Have we ever stopped to think that maybe there are a series of complicated decisions that are made by people when they decide where to live or what to do and maybe one person's idea of what's most important is not what's most important to everyone, but that good people (be they hiptsters or suburban dwellers) may make a hundred other contributions to their towns and cities (and their world) that more than make up for any other perceived deficiancies (for example: what they wear, where they live, what they listen to, etc.)?
Hope I didn't make things more heated, but let's just stop this endless cycle of judging each other, please.
... said On and on it goes on Apr 20, 2011 at 10:52 AM | link
Now I know why I was seeing this word all over Twitter yest. (I mostly follow local people).
... said Kristi on Apr 20, 2011 at 10:57 AM | link
What we've really learned from all this is not what makes a hipster, but rather that people need to find better ways to address work-related stress.
... said Kevin Marshall on Apr 20, 2011 at 11:53 AM | link
I love this:
"When was the last time you saw a hipster working in a soup kitchen, politcally canvasing door-to-door, or participating in an Earth Day garbage pick up?"
Hold on - when was the last time you saw ANYONE doing those things?
I know for sure that the preps, goths, and jocks aren't doing them. Oh! There's the bell - I better go, or I'll be late for homeroom! LOLHIGHSCHOOL.
... said M on Apr 20, 2011 at 12:27 PM | link
I just can't look around at the effects of sprawl, and dis-investment in urban areas, and apologize for my disdain for the suburbs, especially when there's so much vitriol aimed at people who live in cities and choose to get involved in their community. You don't make anything better by running away, complaining, or by being bitter.
... said daleyplanit on Apr 20, 2011 at 12:30 PM | link
Funny how this conversation is taking place in the present tense. As the authoritative voice on this sociological phenomenon, n+1's "What Was the Hipster?" makes clear, the term itself is by now pretty void of meaning. Other generations had more specific terms to levy against bohemian aesthetes with left-of-center politics, but postmodernism has reduced this type to the vague notion of the "hipster," which by now is no different from the mainstream, and therefore moot.
Their binary nemesis, the "douchebag," however, evidently remains alive and well, harboring scorn for anyone who exhibits these qualities, not for their merits but for their perceived elitism.
Of more local relevance, I don't see how anyone who frequents Bombers can be confused with someone committed to urban homesteading.
... said Josh on Apr 20, 2011 at 1:15 PM | link
Like any other group, there are good and bad in any subset of people - hipsters are part of a direct line of vague discontent that got a big push from the Beat Generation -there's been some form of "hipster" since people hung out in salons talking about books and the latest goings-on in art/politics/etc.
Alot of my friends who wore/wear beards and flannel do so cause it suited the weather in these parts and was affordable/comfortable. i do see a proliferation of young people donning this fashion in the last 5 years or so, probably cuz their musical heroes and/or people they admire look like that. Kind of like when the Band and Dylan started growing beards, it was a reference to simpler times, some admiration for "older" values.
The "smarter/holier than thou" aspect of SOME hipsters is probably what causes most of the resentment. I know some people who were born and raised in a mostly segregated ("white") community, with very privileged upbringings - upon moving to the right section of Brooklyn, they start adopting a NYC accent and treating you
like a bumpkin - some of the worst kind of behavior that gives other folks of this generational subset a very bad rap.
... said Mike on Apr 20, 2011 at 1:17 PM | link
Phoebe, come on, any kind of uniformity (and the denial that comes with it) needs to be poked fun at now and then, it's not like people want to run hipsters over, right? (right?). If you enter a bar and there is, literally, an army of clones, you can't just blame it on the economy :) It's not even a new social phenomenon. I've been to thrift stores and there is wayyyyyy more to grab than just plaid shirts though. What's wrong with leopard prints, guys? And when did everyone become suddenly nearsighted, these glasses have to be props but aren't you too young for a Drew Carey contest? As far as shaving, I just hope they realize there *will* be harder problems to solve in life than the removal of facial hair.
Anyway, they are young, they don't care, blah, but I think it's all fun and games to point out people trying too hard. Same goes for the Jersey shore look. I'm not projecting, I was 20 too, I had a smooth, supple skin and looked just as uniform as any other emo kid back then, but I enjoy art, music, biking and the company of friends like everybody else now. I hope hispters didn't claim these, right?
... said -S on Apr 20, 2011 at 1:18 PM | link
In general, all animals are hip, especially (adopted/"rescue") dogs. But chickens are a whole nother level, some serious elite hipster sh*%. I mean raising chickens involves:
- DIY home production
- Not supporting big corporations
- sustainable living
- Expensive fancy organic foods
- Having an interest in something classic that is now seems obscure
btw - people take this "hipster" nonsense way too seriously
... said Jackers on Apr 20, 2011 at 1:27 PM | link
@ M
""When was the last time you saw a hipster working in a soup kitchen, politcally canvasing door-to-door, or participating in an Earth Day garbage pick up?"
Hold on - when was the last time you saw ANYONE doing those things?
I know for sure that the preps, goths, and jocks aren't doing them."
Preps, goths and jocks aren't purporting themselves as people with strong community involvement. Hipters are.
Ironically, it seems soup kitchens and garbage pick-ups are reserved for church groups and boy scout troops.
... said Jessica R on Apr 20, 2011 at 2:13 PM | link
S. - I have no problem with people picking on the hipster look and the uniformity of fashion, and when I go to H&M and it looks like they started sourcing from thrift stores I can see the ridiculousness. Poke fun at fashion of any type as much as you want.
It's people writing off the other things that hipsters are or do because they have a certain fashion that bothers me. Especially when it comes to things like crafting, buying local, reusing and re-purposing, not buying into -corporate- sameness, caring about the community and environment, and trying to bring back old skills and values like canning or raising livestock or gardening. It seems like if you follow the fashion or not, if you do some of these things you get labeled as a hipster doing it because it's cool and that you are elitist and privileged and full of bullshit.
Hipsters don't own any of these things. However, if they do make them seem cool, and cause some people to do these things to fit in, is that really bad? Look at the things that other subcultures try to make look cool and compare: Jersey Shore (not that I'm an expert) - drinking, buying lots of name brand stuff, being really ignorant, Dudebrahs - flipping cars, drinking, being generally disrespectful, Emos - having mental illnesses, writing poetry, Suburbanites - having a great car/house/yard/entertainment system, eating out at chain restaurants... These are all generalizations, but if you compare them to the generalizations on here about hipsters (besides the clothes and facial hair) - bikes, likes irony and old stuff, raises chickens (apparently), probably shops at the co-op + etsy + thrift stores, "only listen[s] to underground local bands, only read[s] either high literature or poetry", "seeking attention by being unique", "going to art school"... how are these things that one should be hated and reviled for?
... said Phoebe on Apr 20, 2011 at 2:31 PM | link
So, to sum up: daleyplanet has disdain for the suburbs and feels persecuted b/c he lives in a city (not seeming to catch the hypocrisy of his showing outright disdain for those who do NOT live in cities); Phoebe is really upset over all the hipster hate on this post; and Kevin Marshall cracks me the heck up and we should all be a bit less serious and learn to laugh at ourselves! Thank you, Kevin :-)
... said ...and on and on and on... on Apr 20, 2011 at 2:59 PM | link
I'll take a hipster over a reaganite prep any day.
Just sayin'. :)
... said Summer on Apr 20, 2011 at 4:31 PM | link
Just to clarify, my comments were not just a reaction to this post in particular, it was more that this was the little push that got me up on my soapbox. Sorry if it ended up being too much of a rant!
... said Phoebe on Apr 20, 2011 at 5:02 PM | link
Hipster Soup Kitchen would be a good name for a band.
... said Julia Thorne on Apr 20, 2011 at 6:48 PM | link
Just like pornography. You know it when you see it.
... said abby on Apr 20, 2011 at 8:06 PM | link
Holy crap ... this is heated.
Fro the definitions on here, I drive a Subaru (but just switched jobs so I can walk and/or bike to work - yay!), I dress like a cross between a librarian and an investment banker (think Annie Hall, but more polished), and PBR makes me gag (but I can afford the better stuff, so there's that).
I didn't get a liberal arts degree from a dodgeball school, but I often wish I did. I DID marry an English professor (for the record: he wasn't mine). And my politics and sensibilities line up with the hipster definition, even if my aesthetic doesn't.
@Phoebe and @daleyplanit - APPLAUD. Well said. And @daleyplanit, I agree with you 100% about the 'burbs. There are urban areas that have well-planned suburbs. Unfortunately, they are the exception and they can't be found in NYS.
"When was the last time you saw a hipster working in a soup kitchen, politically canvasing door-to-door, or participating in an Earth Day garbage pick up?" Um, actually, I have seen "hipsters" doing stuff like this. Maybe it is a small percentage, but as pointed out above, a small percentage of everyone does this. I'd be willing to bet that the so-called hipsters represent a larger share.
... said irisira on Apr 21, 2011 at 8:18 AM | link
Julia, it would have been but now that you've gone and mentioned it, it's way too mainstream for me.
... said B on Apr 21, 2011 at 11:07 AM | link
These comments are great. I would post with my own ideas of what makes a hipster and why it's not a bad thing, but fortunately Phoebe already d-d-d-d-dominated the opposition anyway :)
... said Paul on Apr 21, 2011 at 12:26 PM | link
Hipsters do not like being defined by people who are not hip.
... said rob on Apr 22, 2011 at 10:02 AM | link
The only hipsters anyone should be concerned about: http://hipsterpuppies.tumblr.com/
... said Tim on Apr 22, 2011 at 4:06 PM | link
Hipsters like philosophy, especially Hegel, so they tend to define themselves in the negative. Look here: http://stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com/
;)
... said Angelica on Apr 25, 2011 at 9:57 AM | link
just go to Minnesota. learn by submersion.
... said mac on May 16, 2011 at 10:48 AM | link